Divorce (non-Catholic) and Marriage into the Catholic Faith

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic : One Thread

I have a question regarding being annuled through the Catholic church. I am in the process of joining the RCIA groups to become Catholic in order to marry my boyfriend. We currently live in Colorado and I know that this particular question must rely on Colorado statutes. I was married at age 18 due to my Father and his beliefs in a non-church oriented cerimony. We were actually married by the Justice of the Peace. Out of that marriage, there were no children and we were married "technically" (on paper) for a period of 1 year and 10 months. I did get pregnant after only 2 months of marriage and it was at that time I knew that I wanted out of the marriage due to his infidelity, so I had an abortion. I tried to "get over" all that had occured during the marriage, and it was at 1 year and 2 months after being married that I left him. Due to moving out of state, the divorce process in Colorado was that I had to wait 3 months of being a resident of Colorado before I could file for divorce. Therefore, I was married for almost 2 years before the divorce was final.

In summary, my question to anyone who will answer is, in the church's eyes, would I be eligible for annulment? I feel as though I had to tell all, per say, in order to get the correct answer. I am looking at approximately 2 years before marriage into the Catholic faith, but was wondering if I could be eligible for annulment, and how long it would take. Thank you for your time.

-- Kimberly Brooke Foster (kimi535421@yahoo.com), July 29, 2004

Answers

You would certainly be eligible to apply for annulment, but no-one can tell you for certain whether a marriage tribunal would determine that your first marriage was actually invalid. Most of what you shared about your situation would not really have any direct bearing on that determination. However, your husband's infidelity within the first two months would probably constitute grounds for annulment - not because adultery invalidates a marriage as such, but because such behavior is a strong indicator that he never intended to honor his marriage vows, and that could indeed render a marriage invalid.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 29, 2004.

I'm not sure that Paul's answer here is the clearest basis for annulment. The ground(s) for annulment based on either infidelity or immaturity may both be available. But perhaps not. People can be both immature or unfaithful and yet the bond is still formed.

What would be more objective is that Kim was married outside the Church, and she wants to marry someone who is in the Church. This would be a privilege basis for annulment. This appears to be little more black and white.

Also, less objective, and I'm sad to be pointing this out and I pray Kim may have changed her mind on this point, but it appears she may not have been open to having children when she married at age 18.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), July 30, 2004.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ